Waldeck-Pyrmont was a sovereign principality 1815-1918, but from 1867 to 1918 it was administered by Prussia (possibly as part of the Provinz Hessen-Nassau?). It became a republic (Freistaat) from 1918 to 1929, when it was incorporated to the Land of Prussia. In 1945 it became part of the Land of Hesse.

Santiago Dotor, 27 February 2001

Pyrmont belonged to the principality [since 1918 republic] of Waldeck until it was transferred to the province of Hanover in 1922 by popular vote.

Waldeck, former principality, central Germany, now an administrative district (c.420 sq mi/1,090 sq km) of Hesse. Arolsen was the capital. An agricultural region, hilly and forested, it is drained by the Eder and Diemel rivers. A county of the Holy Roman Empire from c.1200, Waldeck was united with the county of Pyrmont in the late 17th century, and its rulers were later raised (1712) to princely rank. In 1867 the prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont renounced most of his sovereign prerogatives in favor of Prussia; the title, however, continued in the family. Waldeck-Pyrmont became a republic in 1918. By a plebiscite in 1922, Pyrmont passed to Prussia and was incorporated into Hanover province; by another plebiscite (1929) Waldeck proper became part of the Hesse-Nassau province of Prussia. After World War II it was made part of Hesse.

First reported before 1848: yellow over black. Second reported before 1848: yellow, red, black horizontal.

Jaume Ollé, 28 August 1998

The black-yellow-red colors goes back at least to 1814, when the prince issued an
ordenance on which it was stated (art. 12), "Every man in the militia shall wear, as
identification symbol, a red-yellow-black cockade". Yellow and black were certainly the colors of the country in 1692. A flag reproduced in the civic archive of the town of Wildungen shows a red-yellow-black flag with a black star in the center and the date 17*75. Because Wildungen did not own particular civic colors but used the same colors of the Country, it is to be believed that in 1775 the red was already present also on the Country flags. When in 1830 Waldeck had to provide a battalion to the federal army, the question of the flag (and cockades) was risen again. In the meanwhile the black-red-yellow sequence had became very common in every german State, so the adoption of an odd disposition of the traditional colors was naturally accepted. The Landesflagge was always the plain tricolor, until 1918. The coat of arms was placed on the princely standard from c.1890.